Who are People Willing to Date? Ethnic and Gender Patterns in Online Dating

The United States is a rapidly diversifying country with ethnic minorities comprising over a quarter of the US population. By the year 2050, over half of the United States will be ethnic minority, underscoring the importance of better understanding race relations and willingness to date intra- and inter-racially. Data from 2,123 online dating profiles were randomly collected from four racial groups (Asian, Black, Latino, and White). Results indicated that willingness to date intra-racially was generally high and that willingness to date inter-racially was lower and influenced by racial social status. Because men evidenced an overall high willingness to date inter-racially, women’s willingness to out-date provided a more accurate depiction of racial social status and exchange. Women of higher racial status groups were less willing than those from lower status groups to outdate. Results are explored and discussed in relation to different theories of interpersonal attraction and dating.     

Go Strong or Go Home: An Interview with David Bloor

Widely read in many areas, Professor David Bloor is arguably the pre-eminent authority in the field of STS (Science, Technology and Society). Since his influential book, Knowledge and Social Imagery, was published in 1976, the Strong Programme and its four tenets have become widely known. Professor Bloor was a member of the so-called Edinburgh School who proposed that scientific knowledge could not, and should not, be exempted from sociological analysis. Inspired by Wittgenstein’s philosophy, Professor Bloor and his colleagues introduced the concept of finitism to further explain why all knowledge claims are constructed in a specific social frame, to which sociologists have a lot to contribute. Noting the special intellectual position of finitism, this interview started from this topic. We then moved onto the achievements of the Strong Programme in the past 30 years. Professor Bloor also explained his recent work and the way STS beginners discover meaningful case studies. We ended this interview by asking his suggestions toward the burgeoning STS field in East Asia. This interview with Professor Bloor is a step toward a deeper understanding of the Edinburgh School.